Crisis and Confrontation on the Korean Peninsula: 1968-1969
A Critical Oral History Conference

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September 09 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

On 8-9 September, NKIDP held an international conference: Crisis and Confrontation on the Korean Peninsula: 1968-1969, the first in a series of
critical oral history conferences focusing on the Korean Peninsula, organized in cooperation with the University of North Korean Studies.

This first conference focused on a series of events which occurred during the tumultuous years of 1968 and 1969: The capture of the U.S. Navy's intelligence ship USS Pueblo by the DPRK, the North Korean attempt to assassinate ROK President Park Chunghee with a cross-border commando raid on the Blue House, and a number of other incidents.

Armed with a 1200 page collection of newly declassified documents from American, South Korean, and former communist bloc archives, scholars from around the world and former policy-makers from the United States, South Korea, and the former communist bloc gathered at the Woodrow Wilson Center for two days of discussions. As a result of the conference, historians will have a much more nuanced understanding of US-ROK-DPRK relations during the late 1960s.

Critical oral history is a comparatively new method of historical research which is based on the premise that neither documentary evidence, nor oral history interviews can--in isolation--produce a complete image of a historical event or era. The aim of critical oral history therefore is to give a select group of historians and former policy-makers access to a collection of relevant documents from archives around the world, and then to gather them together around a conference table so that they can collaborate to fill in crucial holes in the historical record.

NKIDP will publish the transcript of the proceedings in the coming months. The document reader compiled for the conference is available for download free of charge, and in the Wilson Center's library

All times are Eastern Time.

Individuals attending Woodrow Wilson Center events may be audiotaped, videotaped, or photographed during the course of a meeting, and by attending grant permission for their likenesses and the content of their comments, if any, to be broadcast, webcast, published, or otherwise reported or recorded.



Unless otherwise noted:
Meetings listed on this page are free and open to the public.

Reservations are not required. All meetings take place at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. Please see map and directions. Allow time for routine security procedures. A photo ID is required for entry.

To confirm time and place, contact Maria-Stella Gatzoulis on the day of the event: tel. (202) 691-4188. Check this page for the latest updates and notices.

North Korea International Documentation Project
Woodrow Wilson Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004-3027
Email: nkidp@wilsoncenter.org
Tel: 202/691-4305